Thursday, January 5, 2012

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard............1/05/2012

Since we had a nice harvest of pak choi a few carrots and a little broccoli head last week. I made another Stir Fry using those veggies, some onions, peppers, snow peas, celery & chicken. It is such a pleasure to have all these wonderful veggies from our own garden right here in our cupboard! We were out of the "good" soy sauce though. So, I used a brand that can be purchased at any grocery store. Boy, what a difference a good soy sauce makes!

"The Italian" also made a easy pasta dinner called "Pasta Piselli". There are two different ways to make this Italian dish. One is with a red sauce and the other isn't. I think the one that he makes with a red sauce is more common in Sicily. I totally forgot to take a picture of it. Here's this great and easy recipe.

Pasta Piselli

Ingredients:
  • Canned plain Tomato Puree, Sauce or Tomatoes
  • Olive Oil
  • Chopped Onions
  • Peas
  • Spaghetti
Directions:
  1. Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and saute the chopped onions for a few minutes
  2. Add puree, sauce or tomatoes. If you are using whole tomatoes, I puree them with an immersion blender before adding them to the onions
  3. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until sauce is thick. This should not take more then about 45 minutes, much less if you are using puree or sauce.
  4. Add peas and server over spaghetti
  5. That's it! Enjoy!
Another great dinner we have had recently is Paprika Pork Chops with Pak Choi & Kale

Paprika Pork Chops w/Greens

Ingredients:
  • Pork Chops
  • Spices: Paprika, Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • Wine for deglazing, I used a white wine
  • Stock, I usually used about 1 1/2 Cups of  Beef Stock for 2 Pork Chops
  • Cornstarch for thickening
  • Chopped Greens of choice. I used Pak Choi and Kale. I separate the stalks from the leaves of the Pak Choi as the stalks take longer to cook
Directions:
  1. Salt & Pepper Chops and then pat them with a generous amount of Paprika on both sides
  2. Heat a little Olive Oil in a deep frying pan or french skillet over medium high heat. You can also add a little butter for flavor if you wish.
  3. Sear Pork Chops on both sides, then remove to a plate
  4. Deglaze pan with wine
  5. Add stock and some cornstarch for thickening. I used about 1 Tbsp.
  6. Bring back to a boil
  7. Return Pork Chops to pan, add the stalks of the pak choi, lower heat to a simmer
  8. Cover the pan and cook the chops until they are almost done. The time will depend on the thickness of the chops. But shouldn't be more then a few minutes on each side.
  9. Add the leaves of the pak choi and other greens of choice and cook for about 2-3 minutes longer
  10. This dish can be served over rice, by itself or with fried rice


Enjoy!

What's been going in or out of your Cupboard lately?

19 comments:

  1. Robin, that looks so good. And I'm sure it's delicious. Simple recipes with few ingredients are always the best tasting!

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  2. Those are a few great recipes! I think I will try the chops recipe sometime in the coming week. I have some kale and swiss chard I could use and some pork chops in the freezer.

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  3. Those look delicious. If only I could eat them. I am able to eat very tiny amounts of pepper now without any reaction so I'm hoping soon I can at least have paprika in my food.

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  4. Those chops sure look good as did the stir fry from last week. I haven't been able to keep up with blogging lately. Hope to do better as winter sets in but now starts the tending of seeds and little seedlings to start again next year.

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  5. Sue, I have to agree. We watched a cooking program last week with a dinner that just looked fabulous. I got all the ingredients (many) together, made it and we were really disappointed in the flavors.

    Laura, I hope you enjoy those chops. I just love using paprika on meats. It definitely adds some great flavor.

    Daphne, I really hope that you will be able to add some more to your diet soon. Don't over do it though. Or, you may not be able to eat those things for years!

    Wilderness, I haven't been doing a lot of blogging either. I have a lot of things that I need to get cleaned up around here this month before I start seedlings.

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  6. You didn't forget to take a picture..your greedy gut like me ..ate it all up ..then remembered the picture :o)
    I'm so hungry from smelling and looking at it , I'm not thinking of taking that picture until I'm all done :o)

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  7. We're just gong to prepare dinner and that certainly got me in the mood!

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  8. wow that looks great thanks for sharing the recipes!

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  9. Your pork chops look AMAZING!!!!!! So envious that you're still harvesting a little something from the garden.

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  10. Robin: The chops look fantastic...gonna' make 'um for dinner tomorrow night..using my grandson's 4-H hog..yummy!

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  11. Ginny, You've got my belly figured out! I need to get in the habit of taking pictures of our dinners!

    Sue, Food posts always get me hungry too!

    MrsP, It's a great and easy meal!

    Thanks Dorothy, I also have a bunch of Baby Choi and Tatsoi that will need to be harvested soon. We really love these fresh winter veggies!

    Lynda, I bet yours will be better then mine!

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  12. I've never really combined peas and tomatoes will definitely have to give it a try.

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  13. Liz, It's a very simple and good Italian classic recipe. I hope that you enjoy it.

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  14. Wow! That looks absolutely delicious!

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  15. Love the Italian's red sauce, only 3 ingredients, bet it freezes well. I like to make big batches of sauce and freeze, there when I need. Pork chops look yummy, I cleaned out my garden this week no more fresh green for now.

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  16. I love the pork recipe. Looks really nice.

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  17. Hi VP, Those chops were yummy!

    Norma, I'm sure that the sauce would freeze just fine. It's such an easy sauce that we always make it fresh.

    Becky, There's nothing better then some good meat and veggies!

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  18. We tried the chops recipe this week and it was Fabulous! I used smoked paprika (pimenton) which we love and use on everything, and all bak choi (not from our garden, unfortunately) and put it over white rice. Might try black japonica rice next time. One more good recipe for my cookbook/binder! Thanks!!!

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  19. Tricia, Oh great...I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for letting me know!

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